One of the biggest concerns with facilitating recovery efforts in our addiction recovery program is keeping the clients engaged with healthy and productive activities. These activities are critical to help keep their minds from fixating on their chemical dependencies. Unfortunately, the last year of Covid restrictions have limited access to activities tremendously. Recently, however, a ray of sunlight appeared in the form of art classes for both the men and women in the program thanks to Tabernacle of Praise Church in Cross Lanes.
In February and in March, Tabernacle of Praise hosted day-long art classes for the women’s group then the men’s group in recovery. The class was taught by our own artistic staff member and Tabernacle of Praise church member, Carol Hilleary. Carol has been painting since she was a teenager and graduated from Glenville State with an art degree. Her artwork has been featured in local galleries and she is a member of the WV Watercolor
Society and Allied Artists.
“Sometimes people are intimidated by the thought of painting; especially when it comes to watercolors,” says Carol. “The men and women were a little reserved at first but once they started exploring their creativity, it was amazing to see what they produced.”
The women were tasked with painting a butterfly and the men had seascapes. Carol taught them some basic principles of working with watercolors and showed them an example of each painting.
“I am always blessed by being in a position to see each person’s hidden talents they don’t even realize they have,” says Carol. “They each approached the task in a variety of ways. We had a very eclectic representation of butterflies and seascapes.”
The members of Tabernacle of Praise took hosting this event to the next level. Not only did they open up their facility for our men and women to use for the class but they prepared lunch and served it restaurant style. They also interacted with the clients to get an idea of some of their basic needs and favorite things in order to compile care packages.
“My fellow church members were excited and blessed to be a part of this event,” says Carol. “Some admitted they had preconceived notions of what to expect and were pleasantly surprised. They are looking forward to sending notes of encouragement and care items to clients they ‘adopted’ while in the program.”
We are excited to see our men and women in addiction recovery be able to participate in events again now that covid restrictions are lifting. We are blessed to have relationships with local churches such as Tabernacle of Praise in Cross Lanes. If you would like to see how your church or local
group can host future events, please contact us at 304.925.0366 and ask to speak with our Special Events Coordinator.
